Month: August 2014

I’m continuing to prepare for the fourth and final book, and if I’m on schedule will start writing it on Monday. Everything is going nicely and I’m making sure that all the various threads come together in what I hope will be a satisfying conclusion. Meanwhile, Robin has been co-coordinating with the beta readers. Her spreadsheet has 557 entries on it. Yes you heard that right. The next step is for everyone who raised a hand to fill out the survey. This is what we’ll be picking the beta readers from. She’s using Mail Chimp to send out notifications, and some messages have gone to spam folders. If you haven’t got your survey invitation, then send a mail to first.empire.beta@gmail.com as she’ll be closing that process soon. She’s also made some progress on the alpha edit of Rhune. Here is where we stand now:

Rhune

Written: Feb 2013 – July 2013 (100% complete)

Pre-alpha edit: July 24, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Read: July 29 – 31, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Edit: Aug 2, 2014 (40% complete)

Beta #1 Start: Sep 2014 (names gathered, surveys coming in)

Beta #2 Start: Jan 2015 (0% complete)

Dherg

Written: Aug 2013 – Dec 2013 (100% complete)

Pre-alpha edit: Aug 14, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Read: Aug 8 – Aug 14, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Edit: Sep 2014 (0% complete)

Beta: To be determined

Rhrist

Written:Jan 2014 – June 2014

Pre-alpha edit: Aug 14, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Read: Sep 1 – 3, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Edit: Nov 2014 (0% complete)

Beta: To be determined

Fhrey

Outlining and planning: August 2014 (80% complete)

Writing: Sep 2014 – Dec 2014 (0% complete)

Pre-alpha edit: Jan 2015 (0% complete)

Alpha Read: Feb 1 – 3 2015 (0% complete)

Alpha Editing: Feb – Mar 2015 (0% complete)

Beta: To be determined

I’ve also started a mailing list for those who are interested in freebies, pre-ordering, contests, and other goodies. You can sign up here.

Yesterday my wife finished reading the third book in the series and gave her enthusiastic stamp of approval. As pleased as I am with each book I write, I’m never 100% sure whether they are worth seeing the light of day until I get the thumbs-up or thumbs-down from Robin. Some might assume that she, being my wife and all, always gives the thumbs-up, but that is certainly not true. I have several novels and short stories that won’t see the light of day because the Quality Assurance Department here in our house has said, “Nope try again.”

So, Robin is currently putting some minor edits on the first book, and getting ready for the beta readers. I’ll talk more about the beta process in my next post. But the good news is the series is in as Robin puts it, “Excellent Shape” and that is a huge hurdle to cross.

I can’t believe how long it has been since I’ve updated this blog. I think you’ll be seeing more frequent updates in the near future. If you’ve kept up with the main pages of this site you’ll know that this series went from a trilogy to four books. Here is where the series stands now:

Rhune

Written: Feb 2013 – July 2013 (100% complete)

Pre-alpha edit: July 24, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Read: July 29 – 31, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Edit: Aug 2, 2014 (27% complete)

Beta #1 Start: Sep 2014 (0% complete)

Beta #2 Start: Jan 2015 (0% complete)

Dherg

Written: Aug 2013 – Dec 2013 (100% complete)

Pre-alpha edit: Aug 14, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Read: Aug 8 – Aug 14, 2014 (100% complete)

Alpha Edit: Sep 2014 (0% complete)

Beta: To be determined

Rhrist

Written:Jan 2014 – June 2014

Pre-alpha edit: Aug 14, 2014 (30% complete)

Alpha Read: Sep 1 – 3, 2014 (0% complete)

Alpha Edit: Nov 2014 (0% complete)

Beta: To be determined

Fhrey

Writing: Sep 2014 – Dec 2014 (0% complete)

Pre-alpha edit: Jan 2015 (0% complete)

Alpha Read: Feb 1 – 3 2015 (0% complete)

Alpha Editing: Feb – Mar 2015 (0% complete)

Beta: To be determined

So as you can see, even though I’ve not been updating i have been busy writing. The alpha reader feedback for the first two books have been very positive and I don’t see much that has to be changed. For those that are interested in beta testing, I’ll have a post for you soon on that process.